How to be happier

Drink in the morning

Swig water first thing to douse depression

Keep a full glass of water by your bed and make it your mission to drink it all before you leave the house in the morning. A recent study in the Journal of Nutrition reports increased negativity, trouble concentrating and greater fatigue when participants’ hydration levels were just 1% lower than optimal. Your body is always naturally dehydrated after sleeping, so top up as soon as you can to boost your mood before your commute.

Start smartly

If you look good, you feel good. Research published in The Journal of Esthetic Dentistry found that altering a physical trait for the better improves attitude, personality, and self-esteem. A 1996 study in the journal Studia Psychologica found that people with higher self-esteem spent more time getting ready in the morning. So hone appearance, even when there's no specific reason to. You'll feel better for looking better.

Calmer police

Listen to your favourite album

Classical music has been much linked with an improvement in health and immunity. But to lift your mood, the key is to listen to music you like, proving to be the biggest trigger of dopamine release according to neuroscientists Dr Robert Zatorre and Dr Anne Blood. And yes, this still applies if youre big into Radiohead.

Smiles better

Fake it to make it

“Miserable people tend to have miserable faces,” says psychologist Ros Taylor. “This makes people avoid them, which makes them more miserable and creates a vicious cycle. If you smile, it will make a difference.” Pull your lips into a smile and hold it there for three of four seconds. You'll notice the effects (and and the person next to you on the bus moving away).

Pleased all about it

Enjoy the bad news

Turn the power of schadenfreude to your advantage. Put simply, reading bad news reminds you of other people in the world who are worse off than you are. Its called social-comparison theory. "We want to hear about bad things happening to other people because it makes us feel better about ourselves," says psychologist Oliver James. You might not feel good about that, but the perspective will certainly make you feel better about your lot.

Happiness 3.0

Stop using your mind as a storage device

Your brain is fantastic at having complex thoughts and ingenious ideas. It's much less good at storing them. As productivity coach David Allen points out, most of us have far more items on our to-do list than our working memory can keep track of. The result is constant stress as your mind struggles (and fails) to keep track of them. Make it a daily habit to brain dump all your open tasks to a smartphone app. Evernote (free, itunes.apple.com) allows you to take notes, make to-do lists, add photos, record voice-reminders and makes them all searchable according to your tagging system. Once your subconscious grasps that you can always consult this trusted system it will relax, says Allen. You'll still be busy  but positively so.

The samurai mindset

One sentence to slice through procrastination

You could spend thousands on books, seminars and life coaching to help you get motivated  but it's unlikely to help. In fact, it might make things worse. The problem with trying to adopt a motivated mindset is that it subtly reinforces the belief that you need to feel a certain way before you can act, says therapist James Hill, a modern-day practitioner of the anti-motivational approach of the Japanese psychiatrist Shoma Morita. Instead, commit one single sentence to memory: "You don't need to feel like doing something in order to do it." Next time a difficult task rears its head just notice that it's there and act alongside it. Its the Zen way to get home on time.

Happy eater

A sardine sandwich feeds body and mind

In countries with high fish consumption, such as Japan and Taiwan, the depression rate is 10 times lower than in the USA or UK. Oily fish such as sardines, mackerel and salmon are rich in Vitamin D, a natural antidepressant, according to a 2008 study in the Journal of Internal Medicine. Roughly mash two sardines with some avocado and black pepper and eat as a sandwich with wholemeal bread for the ideal protein-to-carb ratio post-exercise and a double dose of essential fats to keep muscles and joints as healthy as your outlook.

Get a Facelift

Browse to address your stress

Just three minutes on Facebook is enough to trigger a physiological shift to positive thinking, according to a study in journal Cyberpsychology, Behavior and Social Networking. The researchers found it fit the broaden and build theory of positive emotions, which dictates that social bonds create personal resources you can draw on again later as a coping and survival technique.

Give to relieve

Donate money to credit your own account

Go on, be selfish. Pledge £10 for a well-meaning colleagues 19th 5K stumble. Flick a £2 coin in a charity muggers bucket. You deserve it. Because giving more specifically, donating money  stimulates the same part of the brain as sex and drugs, according to a 2006 study at the National Institutes of Health. The researchers scanned subject brains while they played a computer game that allowed people to win cash prizes or make donations to charity. All of these procedures lit up regions of the brain associated with the release of the pleasure chemical dopamine. But donating sums of money at a cost to oneself had the most intense mind-altering effect. Doing the Lottery doesn't count.

Your five-a-side

Feeling the buzz is easier than you think

Intense exercise stimulates extreme endorphin production. Its called the runners high and its what marathon types harp on about during their endless training. But you can get the same hit of happy hormones without having to heave left after right for hours on end. Just 30 minutes of aerobic exercise three times a week is as effective as some of the most powerful psychiatric drugs, says Dr Tal Ben Shahar, a positive psychologist, Harvard professor and author of Happier and The Question of Happiness. Combine exercise with a team sport and you get the added bonus of social interaction. By which we mean a drink afterwards.

Hug it up

Feel the force of human touch

Dont think youre too much of a man. Physical contact with a loved one  or even a pet  triggers the release of oxytocin, the bonding hormone, which creates a feeling of calmness and connectedness, says relationship psychologist Dr Helen Fisher. It might sound like hokum, but youll feel better for it. When you head out to your post-match date, add to the five-a-side buzz by initiating physical contact with your girl (assuming you've showered). Oxytocin's effects are stronger in women, and the hormone combines with oestrogen to boost her mood and sex drive. Plenty to feel good about, then.

End on a positive note

Write down what's good - to feel better

If every day has started to feel the same then there is nothing wrong with you whatsoever. It’s a psychological situation that happiness researchers have dubbed the ‘hedonic treadmill’ – the manner in which you adapt to each new source of pleasure (pay rise, new car, better girlfriend) that it stops delivering joy. Studies at the University of California concluded that a journal is the most effective was to get off the roller. “Write down what you enjoyed, are grateful for and satisfied with in a book kept by your bed,” says study leader Sonja Lyubomirsky. Don’t worry about doing it every single day, either - the mood-boost was found to be greater if you don’t. Sleep well. Tomorrow is another day.

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